The Beast Report: December 2017

1. Beast Profiles

2. Nutrition

3. Looking Ahead

1. Beast Profiles

Articles and interviews dedicated to reporting on the amazing people and stories of Your Beast Team!

ANDREW “DREW” HOOPER – THE BEAST MASTER!

We wanted to start this series with our very own Beast Master, Drew Hooper!

How Did You Get Into OCR Racing?

A friend of ours asked if we would like to do the Survivor mud run. I think it was even as early as 2012 and I got hooked. I then start doing Dirty Dash and Warrior Dash and eventually bumped up to Tough Mudder and Spartan Race.

When, why, and how did you start the Beasts OCR group?

Back in 2014 I was starting to get very involved in obstacle course racing and while I was at Tough Mudder it dawned on me that there must be a social Media Group locally that focused on obstacle course racing. I thought it would be nice to join a group like that to get ideas for working out and to help hold me accountable to some fitness goals I had. As I began searching through Facebook I could not find anything in our region so I then went to meetup.com and looked there, but again I found nothing. It was during that search that meetup.com asked if I would like to create a page on the topic and they would notify me if anyone showed interest. I went ahead and paid the small fee to establish what I called South Sound obstacle course racers. By the next morning I had five members in my group and within the first couple of months it grew to 50. We started to arrange some workouts in the Tacoma area for a few months and then got the idea to meet for drinks at a bar called The Swiss in Tacoma. It was at that moment when I contacted Grays Harbor Unders to see if they would like to come to that meeting and show off their product and learn about what I was starting. I felt that as a team grew they could be a great sponsor for us and I felt their product suited obstacle course racing very well. It was also at that meeting that the recommendation was made that we expand our vision of what the team could be. I received the recommendation to make a larger Regional team that would Encompass the entire state and possibly include Oregon and Idaho. It was after that meeting that I really began to expand my efforts on Facebook to grow the team. I finally got connected with two other local groups and suggested to their admins that we combine forces as opposed to compete with one another. They agreed and we merged into what became known as beasts of green obstacle course racers. I couldn’t stand the of green part in our name and just gradually made the font smaller and smaller until it’s simply no longer existed in our logo.

What was your vision when you started the group?

Originally I just had a vision of creating a group that could work out together, support each other, and race together. I really didn’t think of it as more than that.

Did you ever imagine it would grow to what it is today?

Initially I never imagined it would become what it is today. However after a few months of running the team I got connected with some larger groups in other parts of the country and I saw what they had become. It was then that I realized that we may have created something special that could get to be quite significant for the obstacle course racing community in our region. That’s when I started to get creative and thinking about what all could be possible.

How did you feel the first time The Beasts OCR received the plaque for “Biggest Team” at a Spartan Race?

It was such a feeling of accomplishment. The first race that we won biggest team was a Spartan super. I remember being frustrated at the prior Spartan Race which was the Washougal Sprint because we actually had more team members there then the group that won biggest team. Early on the challenge that I had was getting people to sign up under the team name. There was a huge learning curve for people around why there is value in signing up as a member of beasts OCR. I remember getting so frustrated because I would see all these people at the race that were a part of our team but never registered as a part of the team. I got so fed up by it that I started making videos and posting them in the group to encourage people to sign up under the team.

Some of them were pretty goofy. I remember once making a little commercial where I was supposed to be Beastman, a superhero like Batman (search “beastman” on the Facebook BeastOCR site for video). I had a contractor doing some work in my office and asked him if he would play a part in my ad for the team. It was beyond ridiculous. I’m sure somebody searched the history on the team’s wall they could find it. It was really stupid. But the videos and the post worked and we finally started to get people to understand why they needed to register under the team. Ever since then we’ve never lost biggest team and our numbers have just continue to grow. I also remember having business cards for the team and running around at all the races handing out business cards and trying to encourage people to sign up. It was a lot of work.

How has OCR helped you overcome challenges?

Obstacle course racing help me to get healthy. When I started obstacle course racing I weigh 270 lb and was only 5 foot 8 inches tall. I was totally obese. A friend of ours suggested that we do the Survivor mud run with them and it sounded fun so I started to train. I remember the first time I went out to run I couldn’t even make a half mile without stopping. I remember my pace for the first mile I ever completed was almost 14 minutes. It was barely faster than a walk. But as time went on I got my Pace down to 8 Minute miles and I got down to around 220 lb. Obstacle course racing taught me that it was possible to lose weight and have fun doing it. It taught me that weight loss didn’t have to be a chore that I’d have to suffer through. It also gave me confidence in myself that I could do it.

What does the OCR community mean to you?

The obstacle course racing Community is amazing. What I love about it is that while there are hard-core athletes, the majority are simply people who want to improve themselves by doing something challenging. They’re normal people who just want to do something incredible. Most of the time they’re out there to just simply finish and it’s not about time. I love that. I love the idea of the everyday Joe coming out and doing something incredible.

What is your favorite OCR memory?

I will never forget my first Spartan Race. Of all of the Spartan races I could have chosen for my first I chose the Montana founders Beast in 2015. A week before that race I was diagnosed with the flu and pneumonia. I was completely frustrated and demanded that they x-ray my chest within a couple of days so that I could find out if I was cleared from pneumonia. I remember the doctor telling me that he didn’t recommend I race and I told him that I understood that, but I wanted to know whether or not I could do it. He said I could but then he just didn’t recommend it. That was all I needed to hear. That next Friday I was on the road driving to Montana for what was the most difficult race I’ve ever participated in. The pneumonia had an impact on my lungs for almost 6 months after that. It was nearly impossible to run any part of that race and I was absolutely fatigued. I nearly gave up I felt so bad at one point. It took nine and a half hours to complete that race but I did it. And I even successfully climb the Rope and stuck my spear for the first time.

Tell us something about yourself that few people know, whether OCR related or not.

I have been madly in love with my wife since I was 18 years old. I tried out for a play my first year in college and I remember sitting looking up on the stage waiting for my turn to try out and this beautiful girl with an incredible smile and Shining eyes walked on. I remember hoping that she got cast and that I would get to play opposite her. She did get cast and I got cast as her boyfriend. I was so excited but fortunately she must have been fairly excited too because one day she asked if we could practice the kissing scene. I couldn’t wait! What’s funny though is that just before intermission we got married on stage in the play. The man who married us was Mario Winkelman founder of Grays Harbor Unders. 5 years later Danielle and I got married for real and it was Mario who married us.

What are your goals for 2018?

Now that I’m coming back from a couple of injuries and a year out of obstacle course racing I would love to go to a couple of races next year. It’ll be fun to trifecta again and I’d like to do my third Tough Mudder. I’ve also always really enjoyed Warrior Dash and Dirty Dash so I think that would be fun. I’ve also kicked around the idea of doing a triathlon I’ve always thought those look fun and challenging. Right now I am training to do the St Patrick’s Day GoRuck event in 2018.

2. Beast Nutrition

Shrimp Fun Facts (of course shrimp can be fun)

-There are over 128 species of shrimp

-Shrimp come in many different colors such as red, white, pink, brown, rock and brine shrimp. However, there are more colors than these that can be attached to shrimp. Yellows, cherries, tigers, bees and blues can also be a part of the shrimp colors of shrimp throughout the world.

-Shrimp is considered to be the number one seafood on the list of seafood. One billion pounds of shrimp are eaten every year by Americans. Over five billion pounds of shrimp are produced every single year.

-0.27 grams of healthy omega-3 acids are found per serving in shrimp.

-Did you know that the mantis shrimp has claws with such an incredibly fast and powerful strike, that some are able to break aquarium glass with one swing? They launch with the velocity of a bullet.

-While the powerful claws of the mantis shrimp are truly incredible, they have another surprising attribute: their eyes. Unlike a human, whose eyes only have 3 different types of photoreceptive cones (allowing us to see three colors and all the resulting color permutations), mantis shrimp have an amazing sixteen photoreceptive cones. This allows them a visual spectrum that we, as humans, can only imagine.

-An average shrimp has 10 legs

-Every shrimp is born a male and then become females as they mature (wild and crazy shrimp)

-April 29th is Nation Shrimp Scampi Day

-May 9th is National Shrimp Day.

-A shrimp can average about 6 inches while the longest ever found was at 16 inches.

-Some shrimp can live as long as six and a half years, while some only live about a year or so.

-The name for raw, uncooked shrimp is “green”.

-The pistol shrimp can deliver an explosive attack hotter than the surface of the sun and loud enough to rupture a human ear drum.

Shrimp Recipe:

I sauteed 1/2 pound of shrimp with 1/2 tsp olive oil, onion, and garlic. I squeezed 1/2 lime over the shrimp as they were cooking. I served it over romaine and a vegetable salsa which was made out of red bell pepper, cucumber (unpeeled), and tomato. There were tons of veggies so it was pretty filling. This was actually 2 servings, but there were only 372 calories per serving so I figured that was just fine.

Jan. 1 – What are your goals for 2018:This is the perfect time to start thinking about your goals for 2018. Training for them can be fun and your team has you covered. Look for an upcoming BeastWOD near you in the Facebook Beasts OCR Events section:
-Dec 2 Marysville, WA
-Dec 2 Kent, WA
-Dec 3 Portland, OR
-Dec 3 Seattle, WA
-Dec 17 CF Bothell Clinic

Jan 19-20 – Ghost Beasts Endurance, Montesano WA:
Ghost is 14+ hours of team versus team endurance and covert competition. Do you complete your mission to advance your team? Do you branch off to raid the opposing team’s base? Do you sacrifice key items or pursue side objectives for resources? Do you risk it all to control the firebase? There are no individual cuts, and nearly every infraction is doled out by the opposing team.